Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 21 May 2024

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action

Circular Economy in the Food Sector: Discussion

Mr. David Flynn:

I think I referred to 30 members earlier, it is 35 members that we have at the moment. The charter has been around for a few years but we relaunched it last year. It is targeted but more expanded into manufacturing, food retail and restaurant and food service. Initially, it was not all of those sectors. We have 18 members from manufacturing and processing and we have five on the retail side. The names are available on our website. We have 12 on the restaurant and food service side. We have started off and we are trying to increase the number of participants in the charter. We would be open to any sector becoming involved in it. At this stage it is voluntary. Depending on what comes from Europe, there could be different approaches to that. What we would like to see is a critical mass of people from the manufacturing, food retail and service sectors getting involved at this stage. That is where we see the greatest potential at this time. We are open to any company becoming involved.